Posts Tagged ‘FCBD’

As per my previous post, my schedule on Saturday morning had me at Austin Books for Free Comic Book Day at 8:00 AM, then at Rudy’s for breakfast and finally off to IKEA to be there when it opened at 10:00 AM.

What I was expecting was something out of my memories of going to the Elizabeth, NJ IKEA back in the 90’s at the crack of dawn.

Back then, the traffic was bumper-to-bumper into the parking lot with local police officers directing the traffic flow. Once parked, it was like something out of a George Romero zombie movie with groups of ravenous looking Yuppies wandering in packs aimlessly outside of the store, waiting to rush the doors upon opening so as to “feed” on POÄNGs or BILLY bookcases.

Thing is, apparently a lot has changed since the late 90’s (insert your “no duh” statement as sarcastically as you like).

The parking lot at the IKEA Round Rock store was mostly empty. As I pulled up I noticed a couple go inside the open doors of the building.

IKEA (at least here) opens their showroom and restaurant before 10:00 AM and invites customers to browse and eat before they open the warehouse.

So, at 9:30 AM, I decided to enter and even though there were some people already inside, they were mostly in the restaurant which meant I was left alone walking through the empty showroom.

It was easily one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had in a long time. And I highly recommend it.

Walking through room after room of an “empty house” without anyone around reminded me of driving on the highway on Christmas morning in Austin. You can drive and not see another person for miles. You’re the only person on the world in that moment. If I was an outdoors-type of person, I guess that’d be what camping would be like.

Maybe I’ve defined a new pastime? “Urban micro camping” (“micro” in that you can only do it for a few minutes at a time).

Anyhow, it’s kind of an eerie and messed up experience, especially contrasting this with the fact that two hours prior I was standing in a line that wrapped around the building and cut to me standing in a mock Living Room isolated from humanity.

Like I said, it’s worth a go. And if you do, don’t forget to stock up on your “urban micro camping” supplies (I’ll have to figure out what those are).

At zero-seven-fifty, I was not the first person in line at Austin Books for Free Comic Book Day (FCBD).

Nor was I the second. Or the third. I was pretty far down the line, but it it wasn’t all that bad to be honest with you.

The folks at Austin Books run one of the most professional retail stores I’ve been to, and they have got FCBD down to a science.

They put a tent outside with the free comics, have plenty of extra staff to keep things moving and even feature the comedy stylings of Herschel while you wait!

I was out of there in plenty of time to go to Rudy’s for breakfast (and that was after a visit inside for a back issue and stopping to talk to friends).

The FCBD books that I like are the ones where publishers are giving me a full story, be it a first chapter (or “zero issue”) or a “done in one” single issue story. Doesn’t really matter as long as I have the satisfaction of reading something that has a beginning-middle-end. The “sampler” or “preview” books that only have the first few pages of a story are frankly, lazy.

Iron Man / Thor (Marvel): my favorite of all the FCBD books andclearly Marvel’s approach to FCBD is the same as last year; put their best foot forward by pairing their top talent with their highest profile characters. The goal is to blow the pants off readers to get them to take a look at more Marvel comics. Mission accomplished. Writer Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man) and artist John Romita Jr. (Kick-Ass) deliver a fun story with sharp writing, beautiful art and enough character moments that you give the reader a feel for the amazing work he’s doing on Iron Man (and will do on Thor). If you’re not picking up Invincible Iron Man, issue 25 is as good a place to start as any (which conveniently shipped this week). This team has successfully followed up the great Avengers FCBD issue (see last year’s review post) and set the bar for next year. A+.

Iron Man / Nova (Marvel): fantastic opening sequence and it just gets rolling from there. Action. Monkeys. Humor. It’s a great peak into the excellent work that Paul Tobin has been doing on the “all ages” Marvel comics (both the Avengers and Spider-Man titles have both relaunched with new #1’s this month – clearly someone at Marvel is paying attention). Some of the best work that Marvel comics is publishing is “hidden” in the this line. You owe it to yourself to check out the “Tobinverse” and some of the other great books that are being published here like Thor And The Warriors Four (Word Ballon has a great interview with writer Alex Zalben about this topic). A.

The Sixth Gun: I feel bad that I didn’t stop to say hello to the creators of this book (Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, who were doing a signing) but having not read the book I didn’t really have much to say. That said, I read the book. It’s a lot of fun. Good non-super-hero old West magic adventure stuff and I’ll pickup the book when it comes out. If you know them, tell them I dug the book! B+.

Doctor Solar / Magnus (Dark Horse): in the first four pages, writer Jim Shooter successfully does two things that I can not stand:

Flashbacks and flashforwards that use dates (example: August 15 on page one and then saying August 14 on page two). Do not assume I’m paying so close attention that I remember the date (even from the last page). Just say “today” and “yesterday.”

When science fiction writers feel the need to explain stuff that I couldn’t care less about…just to show that they can explain it. Honestly, I really don’t care how or why Doctor Solar is wearing a red costume or what it’s made out of. It’s just pretentious babble.

After trudging through my own person annoyances, the comic was OK. I’m on the fence as to if I’ll try the regular series. C.

War Of The Supermen (DC): DC is finally figuring out how to properly do FBCD and they followed Marvel’s model above. This is a new story and one that leads into an upcoming Superman event that has been brewing for the past year. While the writing was good and the art was quite excellent, I had a huge problem with this book. It’s the same problem that made me drop the Superman titles a year ago. The concept of a world full of Kryptonians in my opinion makes Superman uninteresting and he looses the unique quality that sets him apart from the other heroes in the DC Universe. All of this is made worse by the fact that we know how this “war” is going to end (I’ve seen PREVIEWS). There’s little to no mystery or surprise that will be had from this story so I’m going to sit it out until JMS arrives. It’s a good effort on their part, but the foundation wasn’t stable enough (and that has me thinking about a longer DC rant in the future). C.

At 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday, the only people who are out are – Home Depot shoppers, classic car owners, dog walkers, orthodox Jews going to synagogue and of course people like me going to Austin Books for Free Comic Book Day (FCBD).

I only picked up a handful of books, but here are reviews of those books as well as analysis of the publisher’s marketing strategies for each:

Blackest Night (DC Comics): Geoff Johns is one of my favorite writers and he’s about to deliver an event that has been four years in the making; Blackest Night. I anticipate that Green Lantern is going to rock hard this summer, and Geoff Johns delivers the goods in this teaser story for FCBD. Ivan Reis is the brilliant artist who is able to convey all the emotion and tone needed to make this a perfect story. The teasers are plentiful and should provide for months of message board fodder. In addition, Johns is one of the few writers who can simplify 70+ years of DC continuity into a single sentence (or image). DC, from a marketing perspective, did the right thing by promoting what will be their big summer event. This comic has enough eye candy and teasers that I suspect new readers will reach out for previously published material and the existing readers were given a nice little treat of what’s to come. Story, A. Marketing, A.

Avengers (Marvel): comics like this win Eisners, and Marvel gave it away for free! What is not to love? Brian Michael Bendis is not only one of my all-time favorite comic book writers, but I have argued in the past that he is one of the most significant writers to ever work at Marvel; both for his ideas as well as for shaping the current writing style of the “House of Ideas.” Bendis and artist Jim Cheung deliver a “done in one” single issue story that is both inside of current Marvel continuity but not so tied to it that I couldn’t slide it to any non-reader and have them enjoy it (see notes above on Blackest Night). Everybody wins. Bendis is able to mix great character moments and humor with high-octane action. I smiled after I read this comic. This comic made me happy. It was great. Just fantastic stuff. From a marketing perspective though, I kind of wonder why Marvel decided to promote the Avengers given that both Bendis Avengers titles are #1 and #2 on the March 2009 Diamond charts and had just received a massive push with last year’s Secret Invasion event. So it’s not like the Avengers need the promotional assistance. There was another FCBD book from Marvel, a free Wolverine comic to tie-in with the movie that looked like a “for kids” story and as flipped through it, I actually put it down. Yes. I passed on a free comic. What does that say? It says that I’m happy with my adult Millar/McNiven and Aaron/Garney Wolverine books. Story, A+. Marketing, B-.

Bongo Comic Free-For-All (Bongo Comics): Bongo didn’t over-think it. They provided a “sampler” comic with three stories that represent an average issue of a Bongo comic book. The Chuck Dixon (yes, that Chuck Dixon) story is fun and self-referential to the FCBD event. From a marketing perspective, this is the bare minimum you would expect from a promotional item. Give them a taste so they go and buy more. (For example, There’s a nice two page ad for an upcoming crossover event). Stories, B. Marketing, C.

G.I. Joe (IDW): I’m digging the current Chuck Dixon G.I. Joe books and enjoyed these stories…THE FIRST TIME WHEN THEY WERE IN G.I. JOE #0. This is one of those interesting marketing problems. G.I. Joe launched at IDW three months ago to provide enough lead-time to have titles on the shelf in case readers come in from off the street looking for Joe comics after the movie hits (I’d argue if this will happen, but I digress). So, IDW just decided to re-publish its 0 issue promotion to continue the drumbeat of G.I. Joe marketing as opposed to offering something new to existing readers of the titles. It’s a no-win situation, but it also smells a bit like their marketing department didn’t know what to do at all; so they did nothing but hit COPY/PASTE. Stories, B. Marketing, D.

Resurrection (Oni Press): Oni on the other hand knows how to use FCBD to their advantage. The company is re-launching the Marc Guggenheim Resurrection title with this 0 issue. The entire previous run is sitting on shelves in an affordable trade paperback format (released within the past few weeks). Given the massive amounts of press Scott Pilgrim got at New York Comic Con, I suspect that a promotion like this would be spitting into the wind for that book (and yes, there was an ad for Scott Pilgrim in the book). Resurrection is the title that needed the help, and they went with the right choice. I haven’t read the issue yet, but the marketing for Oni is B+ (points deducted for making “Tek Jansen” so small on the cover…Colbert sells books, why not make it larger?).

Aliens / Predator (Dark Horse): Dark Horse is relaunching both of these franchises and has been investing heavily in reprinting their already published materials in Omnibus-style trade paperbacks. This comic follows the standard model (see Bongo) of providing readers with ‘a taste’ of what the next mini-series for each character will be like. John Arcudi is the “bullpen” Dark Horse writer for their Fox licensed materials. Again, all the right moves. But nothing to write home about. Story, C. Marketing, C.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TNMT) (Mirage): this reprint of the first self-published issue of the Turtles is to promote the 25th anniversary of the title and promote the reprinting of some of their earliest material as well as the new work coming out of Mirage Studios. The story, a classic, gets an A. The marketing is standard (see above) and gets a “Bongo” rating of a C- with a point taken off because they are trying to tug on the heart strings of older fans like myself by showing us nostalgia as opposed to giving us a look at some of the newer work (this would have been a great opportunity to try to sell me on the current title).

Speaking of TMNT #1, it is often overlooked by comic book historians, but the significance of TMNT #1 can not be ignored. If Zap Comix #1 created the comic book underground movement in the 1960’s, then TMNT #1 is the book that ressusitated it in the 1980’s and delivered a second Renaissance of self-publishing in the medium.

The reason for this was that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird owned their creation. These are guys who saw Joel Siegel, Jerry Schuster, Bill Finger and Jack Kirby fight for, and loose, the rights to their characters. They saw how the creators of characters like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man (the list goes on) never saw the enormous amounts of merchandising revenue the publishers reaped (and continue to reap) from their characters.

Which is why in the 1980’s, when the Turtles broke through into mainstream popular culture, their creators still held the rights to their creation and as a result became millionaires (and complete creative control in the process). It was an inspiring story of success and the TMNT and this self-publishing model is one of the reasons why seven superstar creators left Marvel Comics in 1992 to form a another self-publishing empire; Image Comics.

Which is why it’s very humbling when you look at the first issue and notice that it is dedicated to Jack Kirby and Frank Miller.